Most people seemed to tune out of Vega’s music after “Luka” and/or the various remixes of “Tom’s Diner” had their way with the airwaves, relegating her to that sad status as fluke hit-maker. Luckily for discerning listeners she paid them no attention and carried on creating strong albums that provoked and questioned what women in pop/folk could and should do. After a six year break in the early 2000s, she returned with her first release on Blue Note — an album that, if you were still listening, ended up being one of her best.

Tom Johnson has contributed to Blogcritics, and maintained a series of stand-alone sites including Known Johnson, Everything is a Mess and others. He studied both creative writing and then studio art at Arizona State. Contact Something Else! at reviews@somethingelsereviews.com.